Prevalence of Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders in Children and Adolescents in the Mediterranean Region of Europe

Abstract

In an analysis of data on children 4 to 18 years old from the Mediterranean-European Area Project, we found FGIDs to be more frequent in girls. Functional constipation, aerophagia, abdominal migraine, and IBS are the most common disorders. However, the prevalence of FGIDs varies significantly among countries.

The problem of defecation disorders in children is underestimated and easily goes unrecognized: a cross-sectional study

“…These prevalence rates, however, were similar to the rates of children without comorbidities. Thus, the prevalence rates of constipation and fecal incontinence in our study are quite high, but seem comparable to those reported by other studies [2, 8, 25]. Nevertheless, it is important to note that for ethical and practical reasons, we used the adult Rome IV criteria instead of the pediatric criteria, as a result of which our prevalence rates may deviate from other studies.…”

“…The prevalence rates of these defecation disorders vary widely across populations. In children the rates of constipation vary from 1 to 30%, and the rates of fecal incontinence vary from 1.6 to 4.4% [2, 8, 14, 25]. These large differences in prevalence rates can be explained partly by differences in demographic characteristics, dietary patterns, and respondent characteristics, such as age, sex, and body mass index, of the populations studied [8, 17, 18, 28].…”

Gastrointestinal symptoms in children: Primary care and specialist interface

“…Prevalence of most FGIDs in childhood has not been fully agreed on: in the US population, prevalence has recently been estimated at about 27% among infants (0‐3 years) and 23.1% among children and adolescents (4‐18 years), based on parental report. Similar percentages have been found in the Mediterranean area of Europe, with variations in the prevalence of some FGIDs among different European countries, probably due to variability in environment, diet, microbiome and genetic background . High prevalence rates of FGIDs have been recently reported in South America (16.8%) and Asia (16.5%) too .…”

“…Similar percentages have been found in the Mediterranean area of Europe, with variations in the prevalence of some FGIDs among different European countries, probably due to variability in environment, diet, microbiome and genetic background. 4 High prevalence rates of FGIDs have been recently reported in South America (16.8%) and Asia (16.5%) too. 5 Infant colic can be considered another frequent gastrointestinal diagnosis that creates anxiety in the family.…”

Lactobacillus reuteri DSM 17938 and a placebo both significantly reduced symptoms in children with functional abdominal pain

“…Functional abdominal pain (FAP) occurs in 0.88% of children and adolescents (1), and it is associated with a worse quality of life (2), increased school absenteeism, parental work absences (3) and substantial healthcare use (4).…”